Şahkulu Rebellion

The Şahkulu Rebellion was a failed Anatolian uprising led by Şahkulu, who was backed by Manuel Palaiologos' Byzantine rebels and the Safavid Empire. Although he killed Grand Vizier Hadim Ali Pasha, Şahkulu was also killed in the conflict.

Background
The Sufi-Shia religion Alevi was one of few religions to be suppressed by the Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire, who had been known for religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity in their empire. Their neighbors, the Shiite Safavid Empire, were considered to be the cradle of Shia Islam, and they backed rebellions against Ottoman rule by Shia and Alevi leaders. One of which was Şahkulu, a Turkmen renegade who rebelled after his father and family were killed by the Ottomans in an attack on his village. Assisted by the Persians and Manuel Palaiologos' Byzantine rebels, Şahkulu launched an uprising from the caves of Derinkuyu in Cappadocia.

War
The first battles took place in 1511, with Şahkulu looting the local Ottoman villages of Anatolia. Governor Karagoz Ahmet Pasha of Anadolu attempted to put down the uprising, but was captured and executed by Şahkulu. The rebels purchased rifles from Palaiologos, and since he had looted Prince Korkut's carriage and killed an Ottoman statesman, he seemed to be invincible.

However, a second army under Prince Ahmet and Grand Vizier Hadim Ali Pasha moved out to crush Şahkulu. At Cubucova, he was chased by a large Janissary army, and although Ali Pasha was slain, Shahkulu was defeated and forced to retreat to the caves of Cappadocia at Derinkuyu, where Manuel Palaiologos made his base.

In March 1512, the base was infiltrated by Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an assassin working for Prince Suleiman the Magnificent. His goal was to continue what Captain Tarik Barleti had started: eliminate the Byzantine Rebels. He infiltrated Derinkuyu and killed Şahkulu as he was brutally torturing prisoners in front of a crowd of people and soldiers. Şahkulu's death ended the uprising.